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You are here: Home :: Coily Blogs :: Coily News :: Pennsylvania Law Will Prevent Doctors From Telling Their Patients Why They Are Sick. Another Example How Corporations Use Government To Get Between You And Your Doctor.

For the past few months we have seen far too many stories about elected officials using new laws to interfere in the physician and patient relationship. First it was the attempts by many states to regulate a woman’s body. Today it is a new law in Pennsylvania that will ensure that physicians cannot share information with their patients are ill due to the toxic chemicals used by gas companies who are “fracking”/drilling for natural gas.

The Atlantic Magazine has a story today about a new law that has recently gone into effect in Pennsylvania dealing with health issues that may arise for individuals who become ill due to exposure from the chemicals used for drilling for natural gas.

“Pennsylvania law states that companies must disclose the identity and amount of any chemicals used in fracking fluids to any health professional that requests that information in order to diagnosis or treat a patient that may have been exposed to a hazardous chemical. But the provision in the new bill requires those health professionals to sign a confidentiality agreement stating that they will not disclose that information to anyone else -- not even the person they're trying to treat.”

Really? A physician can have the information but they can’t share it with their patient that is ill? How is this even acceptable to anyone? Wow.

We are getting tired of watching those on the political “Right” argue that attempts by the President to provide health insurance to all Americans is a threat to healthcare and that it violates the physician and patient relationship. They spend hours spreading lies about “Death Pannels” and other ways that it will destroy our ability to have quality healthcare when we need it. Yet they stand by and sneak language into legislation that actually will do real harm to individuals and will undermine the physician and patient relationship.

There is growing outrage over this blatant attempt by the natural gas companies to continue to claim that the makeup of their fracking fluids are proprietary and confidential. These natural gas companies know that these chemicals can cause serious illness and they are attempting to follow the path of “Big Tobacco” and deny everything until forced to reveal the information decades from now. By that time they will have made most of the money they were going to make from drilling and will be more than willing to declare bankruptcy when faced with paying huge amounts of settlements for the serious harm they have caused to the health of many individuals.

We hope that everyone will read and share The Atlantic Magazine story with friends and family. It is time to demand accountability and transparency from those that would harm your health in the name of corporate profits.